Goodloe won't finish beach

By Rick Catlin. Islander Reporter

Not so good
Beach renourishment efforts by Goodloe Marine have reached south only to near 17th Street in Bradenton Beach following the resumption of the project last month at Katie Pierola Park. Islander Photo: Rick Catlin

Beach coming to the house
The beach area by the BeachHouse Restaurant in Bradenton Beach is only about 20 feet wide at high tide. The 2002 renourishment project had put about 150 feet of sand between the restaurant and the Gulf of Mexico, but storms the past year carried much of that away. Islander Photo: Rick Catlin

With the June 1 deadline to complete emergency beach renourishment fast approaching, contractor Goodloe Marine is not likely to complete the entire project by that date, according to Manatee County Ecosystems Manager Charlie Hunsicker.

The project has been moving south along the Island’s beach, but is only at 17th Street North in Bradenton Beach, about .8 mile short of its target. Goodloe was contracted to complete renourishment to near Fourth Street South in Bradenton Beach at the city limits.

“They won’t finish in time. They will have to move their equipment off the beach” by June 1, Hunsicker predicted.

Goodloe had halted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed and federally funded project in mid-December, but resumed operations in April with a mandate to complete renourishment by June 1 and have all its equipment off the beach by that date.

That could leave several areas of Bradenton Beach in need of renourishment, and residents there hope the coming hurricane season doesn’t bring damaging waves to erode the beach as last year’s hurricanes did.

BeachHouse Restaurant owner Ed Chiles has said previously he’s been concerned about the gradual erosion of the beach in front of his eatery. At high tide, only a few feet of sand and a line of rocks separate the crashing waves from the restaurant. Goodloe crews are about a half-mile away, but running out of time.

The Corps has said that Goodloe must have its equipment off the beach by June 1 and the company would likely have to begin removing its pipes by May 15 to reach that deadline.

Efforts to confirm a report that the Corps would grant Goodloe a one-week extension to the deadline were unsuccessful, but Hunsicker did say Goodloe has asked the Corps to store some of its pipes and equipment in the Manatee Public Beach parking lot, with an eye to removing some equipment by barges that will come ashore at the beach.

Hunsicker said his recommendation to the county commission was that it not approve any such request by the Corps. The commission agreed, but the county legal staff is researching whether or not the county has to cooperate with a request to use Manatee Public Beach because of current legal agreements with the Corps.

Efforts to reach Ben Goodloe of Goodloe Marine were unsuccessful.

But there is a glimmer of hope for those areas along the beach that might be short-changed by the current effort.

Hunsicker has already announced plans for a state-county renourishment effort starting in late 2006 to renourish Anna Maria and Coquina Beach.

While that’s good news for some, Hunsicker said it’s not definite those areas left out of the Goodloe-run project will be included in any state-locally funded effort.

“That will depend on if the state of Florida will support beach renourishment in an area that the federal government was originally funding,” he said.

All is not lost, however.

Hunsicker said he would discuss those areas left out of the current renourishment project with state officials to determine if any federal money is still available to complete that effort.

The design and engineering phase of this fall’s county renourishment effort is being done by Coastal Planning and Engineering. Hunsicker hopes to have the engineering report and feasibility study ready for the county commission’s review within the next few months.

Another renourishment in 2010-12

Beach renrourishment for Anna Maria Island generally takes place every 10 to 12 years and is funded by the state of Florida and Manatee County. The last such effort was in 2002 and added a 150-to-200-foot strip of sand along the beach.

But the hurricane season of 2005 brought a number of storms to Florida and the Island. The resulting wave and wind damage severely eroded many Florida beaches.

That resulted in an emergency beach renourishment effort spearheaded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Neither Manatee County renourishment officials nor the county’s marine engineering firm - Coastal Planning and Engineering of Boca Raton - was directly involved in the emergency effort.

Manatee County and Coastal Planning have already begun the preliminary studies needed for the next cycle renourishment, expected to begin sometime between 2010 and 2012.

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